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HAVRE DE GRACE, Md.—LPGA Tour rookie Yani Tseng claimed the first victory of her career and earned a spot in the season-ending ADT Championship by winning the second major of the LPGA Season – the McDonald’s LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola. Tseng, the first Taiwanese player to win an LPGA major, became a Rolex First-Time Winner by making a birdie on the fourth hole of a sudden-death playoff against Sweden’s Maria Hjorth.
“I'm really excited to play for $1 million at ADT,” said Tseng, who now leads the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year race. “I told my caddie that if I win today, I’ll go to ADT and hopefully I’ll win the $1 million there.”
The McDonald’s LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola was also the last tournament of the first half of the LPGA Playoffs 2008, allowing the top-11 players on the ADT Points List to join Tseng in the ADT Championship field. Leading the list was Paula Creamer with 923,742 points, followed by Jeong Jang with 664,249. In third place on the ADT Points list was Song-Hee Kim (509,000), and Karrie Webb came in fourth with 505,867 ADT Points. Suzann Pettersen (484,664) claimed the fifth place on the list followed by rookie Na Yeon Choi (464,709); Maria Hjorth (422,446); Karen Stupples (378,342) and Jee Young Lee (375,695). Inbee Park was in 10th place with 368,124 ADT Points while Laura Diaz was the final qualifier with 367,228.
First Half ADT Championship Qualifiers
Winner Event Qualifiers
1 Lorena Ochoa
2 Annika Sorenstam
3 Seon Hwa Lee
4 Yani Tseng
First-Half - LPGA Players from ADT Points
5 Paula Creamer 923,742
6 Jeong Jang 664,249
7 Song-Hee Kim 509,000
8 Karrie Webb 505,867
9 Suzann Pettersen 484,664
10 Na Yeon Choi 464,709
11 Maria Hjorth 422,446
12 Karen Stupples 378,342
13 Jee Young Lee 375,695
14 Inbee Park 368,124
15 Laura Diaz 367,228
South Korea’s Seon Hwa Lee, Rolex Rankings’ number one Lorena Ochoa and Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam already secured spots in the ADT Championship by winning one of the automatic qualifiers this season. Ochoa secured her spot in the ADT Championship by winning the HSBC Women’s Champions earlier in March, Sorenstam claimed a spot with a victory at the Stanford International Pro-Am in April and Lee won last week’s Ginn Tribute Hosted by ANNIKA. Both Ochoa and Sorenstam have won multiple Winner Events, thus moving a total of four qualifying spots to the ADT Points and upping the total number of LPGA players to qualifying off the list during the first half of the season to 11.
The LPGA Playoffs 2008, a yearlong competitive structure that splits the official LPGA season into two halves, culminates at the ADT Championship, Nov. 20-23, at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla. Fifteen players from each half qualify for the ADT Championship, and two additional wildcards will be determined following the Lorena Ochoa Invitational Presented by Banamex and Corona.
Out of the 32 spots in the ADT Championship, 13 are designated to be awarded to winners of Winner Events, which are defined as official LPGA Tour events with a purse of at least $2 million. The remaining spots in each half will be awarded using a performance-based points system–ADT Points – to determine ADT Championship qualifiers who are not otherwise qualified.
The second half of the LPGA Playoffs 2008 kicks off next week with a Winner Event at the Wegmans LPGA in Rochester, N.Y.
The 2008 ADT Championship features a $1,550,000 purse with the winner taking home a $1 million paycheck, the largest first-place prize in the history of women’s golf. The ADT Championship will also feature three days of playoffs with a cut after 36 holes. Players start with a fresh scorecard for the third round, which ends with another cut to the top eight players. A live draw will take place with the final eight players immediately following the third round, where players will draft their own tee time based on their third-round finish. A final-day shoot-out with the remaining players will have them, again, starting with a fresh scorecard for their chance at the $1 million winner’s check.
Tickets and packages to the ADT Championship are available online at www.adtchampionship.com or by calling 888-LPGA-TIX (574-2849). All children 15 years old and under will receive free grounds admission when accompanied by a ticketed adult.
About ADT Security Services
ADT Security Services, a unit of Tyco International, is the largest provider of electronic security services to nearly six million commercial, government and residential customers throughout North America. ADT's total security solutions include intrusion, fire protection, closed circuit television, access control, critical condition monitoring, electronic article surveillance, radio frequency identification (RFID) and integrated systems. ADT's Web site address is www.adt.com
About the Ladies Professional Golf Association
As the longest-running women’s professional sports organization in the world, the LPGA features a membership comprised of world-class LPGA Tour professionals and dedicated Teaching and Club Professionals (T&CP). Today’s LPGA Tour features the most talented global sampling of professional athletes competing in 35 events on six continents with total prize money of more than $60 million. In addition to its dynamic Tour members, nearly 1,200 certified T&CP members serve the golf industry in teaching, coaching and management positions, and oversee programs aimed at increasing the involvement of women, girls and youth in golf. The not-for-profit LPGA’s Vision is to inspire, empower, educate and entertain by showcasing the best golf professionals in the world. Its Mission is to be a leader in the world of sports, to promote economic empowerment for all members, and to serve as role models on and off the course. The LPGA is headquartered in Daytona Beach, Fla. For more information on the LPGA, log on to www.LPGA.com.
Media contact: Rebecca Seelig; PBPR, 561.628.5929,
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